mapx Laser — Lake Maps (layered SVG + bathymetry)

mapx

Location

Size

Cut margin (blank border, per side)

Blank margin around the map. Every layer — roads, water, golf, ski, topo, bathy & activity — cuts off at this inset.

🖼 Add a frame border 🔒 Lock map — zoom & pan the view without moving the map Reference basemap

Shown under your design on screen to help you line things up — never included in the export.

Land / background color

Fills the land (everything outside the water) with a photo/texture — screen & PNG poster; the cut-ready SVG stays line-only.

🪵 Wood-grain background

Adds an engraved wood-grain texture over the background color — for a wood look on proofs & previews (it's its own layer; excluded from cut-ready SVG).

Use your own photo (e.g. a woodgrain) as the sheet background. Fills behind the whole map; shows on the PNG poster — the laser-cut SVG stays line-only. Saved as your standard background and applied automatically to every map (Street & Print too). “Remove” clears it everywhere.

🔄 Map rotation 0°

Spin the map within the frame. Double-click to reset to 0°.

My Designs

Save your whole look — colors, layers, frame, fonts, layout — and reuse it on any map.

Shape, Title & Caption

Template / Shape

Custom cut shape

Upload an SVG outline (house, heart, a state…) — the map clips to it and the outline becomes the laser-cut boundary. Drag the ✛ handle on the shape to move it, the ◢ handle (or the slider) to resize.

Title above + caption below the shape

Title sits above the shape; the quote, name + date and coordinates (deg·min·sec) go below. Drag either block to position; shrink the shape (size slider) to make room above & below.

💾 Layouts — save the shape size + text setup to reuse on any map

Text & Icons

Items drop at the centre — drag them into place. Click to select, double-click text to edit it.

📍 Places — address or coordinates

Type an address or “lat, lng” to drop a pin (and label) at that exact spot. Add as many as you like — each one is draggable to fine-tune.

✂️ Erase roads & topo lines behind all text, icons, title & nameplate Gap padding 8

Cuts a gap in the road lines around each label, icon & uploaded image so nothing engraves behind them — real geometry that exports to the cut file. Raise the padding for a bigger clear zone.

Selected size 42 Selected color

Pick the font & size by double-clicking the text on the map (its toolbar pops up). Upload fonts in your Account settings.

🎨 Icons (engrave)

Upload PNG/JPG/SVG icons (saved in your browser), click one to drop it on the map, drag to position, click it to resize. They embed in the SVG for engraving.

Title & Nameplate

Show title Saved title templates

Title size 1.00×

Type a title to show it on any map — drag it anywhere. Save the font, size & alignment as a reusable template (up to 10). Use “✂️ Erase behind text” (Markers & Text) to clear roads & topo lines behind it.

🏷️ Nameplate & lake facts Show nameplate & lake facts

Family name, “Lake House”, an Est. year + your lake's facts — each with its own font & size. Drag the block on the map to place it.

Draw & Trace

Click on the map to drop points; double-click or “Finish line” to end. Each line engraves (its own layer) and exports.

Trace image (draw over it)

The trace image is a screen-only guide — never included in the export.

Trace depth contours over the image

Each finished contour is saved at its depth and engraves & exports as bathymetry — build a lake layer-by-layer from a scan.

Save these contours to the lake library

Depth charts shared for this lake

Import bathymetry from an SVG

Pulls the depth contours from a previous export into this map as editable lines — click a line to select, drag to move, ✕ to delete. They engrave & export with the map.

✥ Edit map lines (bend / move / delete)

When on, click a lake outline, coastline or depth contour to select it. Then drag a green dot to bend that part of the line, drag the line body to move the whole thing, or press Delete (or this button) to remove it. Works on the auto-generated water, coastal & bathymetry lines.

Cover blocks

Drops a block on the map — drag to move, corner to resize, ✕ to delete. It fills the area with the land colour (closing water) and erases the roads & lines behind it.

Roads & Labels

Show roads & labels

Road density (fewer ↔ all) 100%

Below 100%, the shortest minor streets in each class drop out first — thins busy city grids without turning whole classes off.

Welded outlines (expand roads to their widths & cut both edges) — off = single centerlines 🔥 Weld all — fuse streets + water into one solid engrave (fully-engraved map)

Streets weld to their widths and the water fills solid — one engraved area. Turn on “✂️ Erase behind text” (Markers & Text) so the title/text clears the streets & water behind it with padding.

Welded street style Road smoothing 1

Needs Welded outlines on (roads become filled shapes). Fills the road bodies with a photo/texture — screen & PNG poster; the cut-ready SVG stays line-only.

Ramps, on/off-ramps & connectors Road names along streets Road names over other roads (off = lower priority — roads cross over the names) No duplicate street names (one label per name) Road name density (max labels) 140

Caps how many street names are placed — lower it to declutter a busy city.

Abbreviate (Road→Rd, Street→St…) 🛡️ Route shields — Interstate / US / state route number on highways Shield size 1.0×

Drops the route badge (I-75, US 41, FL 78…) on each highway it marks — engraves & exports with the map.

Label placement Label size 11 Label spacing from road 3 Map label font

Click any name on the map (road, place, peak, bay or area) to edit its size, rotation or text; drag to reposition. Uploaded fonts embed as outlines in the SVG export.

Places & Areas

Show places & areas

Water

Lakes, coast & islands Water smoothing 2 Rivers Streams River width 5 River smoothing 2 Water color

Drops a photo/texture (e.g. a watercolor or satellite image) inside the lake & ocean shapes — shows on screen & the PNG poster; the cut-ready SVG stays line-only.

Welded road color

Bathymetry

Show water depth (bathymetry)

Topographic

Elevation contour lines

Land elevation contours from terrain data — one SVG layer per level for stacked cutting, same as bathymetry.

Golf Course

Show golf course layers

Fairways, greens, bunkers, tees, holes & cart paths for a golf course in view — each its own SVG layer.

Activity (GPX)

Import a run/ride GPX to engrave the route on top of the map — same files as the Print Maker activity poster.

Ski Resort

Show ski resort layers

Lifts, downhill runs (colored by difficulty) & slope areas for a resort in view — each its own SVG layer.

Export (SVG)

Set the map name and download / save it from the bar at the top of this panel. The options below control the export.

Physical width

Cut-ready: outlines only, color per layer Stacked layers: closed water + land cut-out (for layered cutting) Show inner padding line (designer guide ~0.5″ in) — the exterior edge is always cut Text as vector outlines (works in all laser software)

Each feature — and each depth level — is its own Inkscape/Illustrator layer. With "Text as vector outlines" on, road names (parallel to their streets), place names and your custom text are converted to real glyph paths — LightBurn & co. show them directly. (Georgia/Arial outline as Montserrat.)